Feed mechanism for planters



April 25, 1939. Q PARK'S ET AL 2,155,735

FEED MECHANISM FOR PLANTERS Original Filed Oct. 31, 1936 2 sheets shet 1INVEMI'ORS URV/LLf JP/i/FKS NHRT/N RON/VI/VG April 25, 1939. o, J. PARKSET AL FEED MECHANISM FOR PLANTERS Original Filed Oct. 51, 1936 2 s s t 2INVNTORS ORV/Alf J P/l/PKS M/IR 7'//V RON/W/VG A TTORNE Y.

Patented Apr. 25, 1939 UNITED OFFICE 2,155,735 H FEED ME'oHANisM FORPLANTERS Orville 'J: Parks, Hopkins, and MartinRonning,

St.- LouisPark; Minn., assignors: to Minneapolis- Moline PowerImplement; Company, Minneapo-- lis, Minn., a corporation of DelawareOriginal-application October 3-1, 193.6, Serial No.

108,552. Divided and this-application- August 20, 193-7, SerialNo;160,088

1 claim. (01. 111- 34 This invention relates .toseed dropping mechanismsfor seed planting machinerysuchas used for planting beets, beans,radishes, lettuce, and otherfarm and garden products which are generallyplanted in crop rows. g

The primary object of the invention is to provide a seed droppingmechanism wherein is em bodied a seed boot for dropping the seed andavalve or valve gate for controlling the discharge In, of the seeds fromthe boot, the said valve being, according to this invention, slidablymounted into the boot in such manner that it will have a Wipingactionon-the boot, thus making the valve self cleaning in operation. Anysticking or clogging III: of the valve will thus be positivelyprevented.

Another andimportant object is to provide a novel and advantageous formof control mechanism-for the seed control valve, and which mechanism maybe readily arranged and adapted for either hill drop planting or checkrow planting. The former method, which is controlled by the travel ofthe planter over the field, plants the hills in even spacing along therow,.but does not necessarily align the-hills transversely or from rowto 25. row while the. later method,- which is-controlled by a checkwire-stretched across the fi'eld, aligns the bills from row to row so asto permit cross cultivation in wellknown manner.

These and still other more detailed and specific 80 objects will bedisclosed in the course of the following specification, referencebeing'had to the accompanying drawings, wherein Fig. 1 is a fragmentalside elevation of a planter anismror the seed dropping valve arrangedfor' hill drop planting.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged side elevation of the wheel trip' unit alone. v

Fig. 4 is-aplan view similar to Fig. 2', but hav'- ing the controlmechanism arranged for check row planting.

4 5 Fig. 5' is an enlarged sectional elevation through the planter bootand associated parts, showing a part of the control mechanism for theseed dropping valve.

It may be noted at this point that this applieu cation is a division ofour parent application filed October 31st, 1936, under Serial No.108,552, for Planter.

Referring now with more particularity to the drawings, the referencecharacter A designates o5 generally a planter frame which is borne by awheel B at each side and includes the seed box C for carrying theseed. Across bar D is supported transversely'of the frame A and forwardly andbelow the seed box C by means of braces E, and; it is tothis bar thatthe seed dropping mecha nisms are connected and arranged in any desiredspacing transversely of the machine. For sup per-ting each of the seeddropping mechanisms there is provided a drag bar F pivoted. to thecross'bar 1) and'also spaced side bars Grearwardly'ex tended and supported bya fork and rodassemf bl-y H, which is extended 'upwardl'y'andassocatedwith a liftingmechanism (not shown) for' raising" and lowering the seed.dropping" mechanism In thisoperation the entire-assembly oscil-' latesabout the cross barD as an axis. The foregoing and otherf illustratedsupporting parts and their arrangement are specifically recitedin ourcope'nding. application Serial No. 108,552, hereinbe'fore referred to.

The present invention relates to the seed dropshown, designatedgenerally at 6 in the drawings; its front-al'end'by connection at 8 tothe drag bar F, and is located and supported between the side bars G bya bail-shaped ha'ngrI. This'casting. includes the depending'tubu'larboot 9 through which the seed is adaptedto be dropped to" the ground,the ,seed being led to the boot by the flexible ribbon tube J. H )I yFor controlling the passage of the seed through the boot ,9 weprovidethe valve or valve gatei l0 slid'ably mounted through a slotl l cut'inonewallj of the boot adjacent to its lower'end Whilejthe valve is shownas mounted through the frontal wall portion of theboot it isobvious thatitmiglit be mounted through any other portion if so de? sired. However.mounted; the valve, is of such shape and sizethat, when pushed inwardlyinto the boot, it will completely close the passageway therethrough soas to block 011 the, seed in the boot. 'Ifhenbydrawing thevalveoutwardly the p a e ay w llb e e d c eiseed'. It maybe stated atthis po'i'nt'that this" sliding A oasting 1 is provided and'is'supported at ping mechanisms, only one of which is hQ1 Q in the castingI and then slidably through a bracket l4 secured to the drag bar F. Aretractile coil spring [5 is stretched between the casting I and a loopI6 found at the frontal end of the rod l2, in such manner that itnormally holds the valve in closed position, and of course returns it tothat position after it has been opened by a forward pull on the rod. Arod or connecting link l1 pivotally engages the loop [6 and extendsforwardly where it is connected to a crank or arm l8 secured to a shaftI9 journaled transversely across the frame A in bearings l9.

It will be noted that the flexible or pivotal connection between the rodl2 and link I! will permit vertical movement of the seed droppingassembly about the cross rod D without interfering in any way with theoperation of the valve. This operation is of course brought about byoscillation of the shaft l9 which results in reciprocation of the rod l2and link I! such as will cause the valve to open and close.

The shaft I 9 is operated to bring about this action by either of twomechanisms selectively employed according to the kind of planting to bedone. The mechanism illustrated in Figs. 1, 2, and 3 is that used for socalled hill drop planting, and comprises an arm or crank 20 dependedfrom the end of the shaft l9 and connected by a link 2| to an arm 22which is pivotally mounted on the main frame as at 23. The same pivotsupports a trigger or actuating arm 24 which projects rearwardly and isadapted to be engaged at its free rear end by a series of pins 25 whichproject inwardly from the adjacent wheel B. These pins 25 are preferablyattached in evenly spaced relationship to an annular band or ring 26that is secured to the wheel concentrically therewith. The assembly issuch that when the trigger 24 is pushed downwardly under the impulse ofone of the pins 25 striking it as the wheel A rotates forwardly, thetrigger will strike the stop 21 on the arm 22 and thereby push the link2| and arm 20 forwardly to oscillate the shaft l9. This action will inturn operate the link H and rod 12 to open the seed valve l0 and producethe desired intermittent dropping of the seed from the boot 9. The pins25 may of course be spaced as desired on the band 26 in order to producethe required distance between plantings along the row.

While the arm 22 and trigger 24 move in unison under normal operatingconditions, it will be noted that they are independently pivoted on thesame pin 23 and are yieldingly held together by a spring releasearrangement comprising a retractile coil spring 28 arranged as shown.This spring will permit the trigger to move upwardly at its free endwithout actuat ing the arm 22, and this arrangement will preventb-reakage and permit the pins 25 to move upwardly under the triggershould the planter be inadvertently or otherwise moved in a rearwarddirection.

When the machine is to be used for check row planting, the triggermechanism 22 and 24 is removed or disconnected from the shaft 19, and inplace thereof an extension 29 is applied to the end of the shaft, asshown in Fig. 4. In this case also a frame extension 30 is provided andattached to the frame A so that it extends out laterally beyond theadjacent wheel B. A tripping unit designated generally at 3| is thensupported on this frame extension 30 and is of any conventional typegenerally employed in connection with a check wire (not shown) whereinthe unit is tripped intermittently by means of stops spaced along thewire. In the particular arrangement shown in the drawings this trippingaction results in the rearward movement of the arm 32, and as this armis connected by a link 33 to an arm 34 on the shaft extension theintermittent tripping action causes a concurrent oscillation of theshaft I 9 such as will cause the valve ID to open and close. The shaftextension 29 is preferably journaled in a bracket 35 on the frameextension 30 and may be readily removed from the shaft l9 when the frameextension is removed from the main frame A. a

It is thought that the operation of the two forms of valve actuatingmechanisms will be apparent from the foregoing, and it is evident thatby a readily made alteration the same planter may be used for eitherhill crop or check row planting. I

It is understood that modifications may be made in the structuredisclosed, provided they do not depart from the spirit or scope of theappended claim. Having thus fully described and illustrated theinvention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patentis:

A seed dropping mechanism for a planter including a wheel borne frame,and comprising, in combination, a seed dropping unit including a seedboot having a passageway for the seed, a drag bar extended forwardlyfrom the seed boot and pivotally connected to the frame for supportingthe boot for vertical movement with respect to the frame, a seed box onthe frame, a,

flexible tube connecting the seed box and seed boot for carrying seed tothe passageway in the boot, a seed valve slidably mounted through afrontal portion of the seed boot and movable therein for opening andclosing the passageway through the boot, the said seed dropping unitincluding also a member extended and spaced forwardly from the valve andhaving a guide opening, an operating rod connected to the valve andslidably extended forwardly through the guide guide opening above thedrag bar, an elongated loop formed on the frontal end of the rod anddisposed to the rear of the pivotal connection about which the drag barswings, spring means for normally retaining the seed valve in closedposition, a guide bracket secured to the drag bar and slidably engagingthe loop onthe operating rod, and operating means including a movablelink connected to the said loop for periodically pulling the operatingrod and opening the valve.

ORVILLE J. PARKS. MARTIN RONNI-NG.

